Seeing that there was still no movement in the backyard, A-Mian called out, "Do you need any help?"
"No need, I'll just wipe this plaque; it's covered in dust."
Amian shrugged and went into the bathroom to take a shower. The place had been completely renovated, and there was still a small bronze mirror (provided by Meng Jing) on the wall, which could only clearly show her own face.
For the past few days, in an effort to show her filial piety, she had kept her hair disheveled. Now, returning home to warm water flowing over her, she felt a sense of comfort from the bottom of her heart.
Ah Mian took two buckets of hot water. When she used the first bucket, she used a loofah to scrub herself clean. While she was calling for someone to add more water, she applied bath powder to her body and head and then rinsed herself clean.
The bathroom was small but well-insulated, so it didn't get cold for a while. After washing, she wrapped her wet hair in a cloth and opened a small door next to it. Inside was a brazier. She dried herself in the small room next door, changed into clean clothes, and lay down on the bamboo chair when her hair was no longer dripping wet.
While drying his hair, he picked up a book that was lying there and started reading. Next to the bamboo chair was a small round wooden table with a bowl of mulberries and half a glass of cold water.
This feeling is so wonderful that it makes one feel great; even gods and emperors don't know how to enjoy it as she does right now!
Once her hair was about 80% dry, Ah Mian left the bathroom to have dinner.
In two days, they would be going to order a stone mill. Meng Chijian ate while pondering the arrangement of their small home. In the past, the house had three side rooms: one for his parents, one for the boy on the left, and one for the girl on the right. Now, one room was for his mother, one for Xiao Jing, and the other for him and A Mian.
With two courtyards, front and back, there's enough room to live and move around.
However, after marrying Ah Mian, he gradually felt that the house wasn't big enough. They added a chicken coop, a bathroom, and a donkey shed, and next up was a large stone mill…
The house needs to be expanded, and fortunately, land in the village is not scarce. Their house is located at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by unclaimed wasteland.
"...We need to build another room, to use as a study for the two of you first, so you'll have a place to store your books and pens. After A-Mian gives birth, we can set it up as a place for the baby to live."
A-Mian wholeheartedly agreed; she had long since given up on writing large characters on the dining table.
No one else objected, so it was decided to start construction during the blacksmith's off-season in summer.
After entering the university, Ah Mian felt that the academy had become very boring.
The teachings of Confucius were all for the purpose of examinations. The academy's standard could be summarized in one sentence: "Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will become clear." Therefore, the method involved repeatedly reading, memorizing, and copying the books. During this process, A-Mian suffered immensely…
Moreover, she was completely unable to understand the meaning of many "sayings of sages," and could only rely on memorizing other people's answers and applying them when she encountered similar questions.
However, as a result, the results were naturally not good, and they basically hovered in the middle and lower ranks.
"Lu Amian, stand up and wake up!" The teacher's ruler had struck several people in succession, and now it was Amian's turn to be drowsy. She rubbed her eyes and quickly went to the back to stand as punishment.
Such hard times passed quickly until late autumn, and Ah Mian's year-long literacy course at the academy came to an end.
On the day she was to leave, she gathered up the papers she had written on, washed and put away her brush, and carried her book basket as she passed by a family of women who had come to register.
She looked back and saw that all the students of the academy were standing together at the door, including Ji Hengzhi. They were all silent, quietly watching A-Mian.
This guy finally escaped his misery!
Many years later, the story of a school bully named "Lu Amian" still circulated in the academy. In the story, this lone girl had remarkable achievements, such as taking on a hundred people, making two former school bullies bow down, and making the teacher jump up and down for days. She was talked about by generations of students.
Later, some people even fabricated romantic tales about classmates developing feelings for each other, or the legendary story of Ah Mian disguising herself as a man to participate in the imperial examination and becoming the top scholar.
The students who were classmates with Ah Mian back then often recalled this experience many years later.
Some of them, even in their forties, will still be awakened by an extremely beautiful and refreshing dream, and then unable to control themselves from recalling the past.
It turns out that the time when we were so foolish, naive, and painful, and wished we could grow up quickly, was called youth.
If, if they were given another chance, perhaps they would have started in a different way.
I wish to buy osmanthus flowers and share wine with you.
It's nothing like the carefree days of youth.
Little Amian raised her head and strode forward, leaving the academy.
*
"Sister Song's Fish Soup Shop is officially reopening! We've prepared some tea and look forward to welcoming you!"
Amidst the crackling of firecrackers, Ah Mian covered her ears as she gazed at the brand-new signboard through the crowd.
The fish soup shop had been testing the waters for three months and had finally refined a brand-new menu that customers raved about. Owner Song hired a new waiter and greeted the customers with a beaming smile, "Ah Mian, I was just wondering if you'd come today."
Ah Mian said, "Wangwang is still in school and can't come during the day, so he specifically asked me to come and support him. I'll gladly accept his invitation and come to taste the delicious fish!"
She entered the shop and saw that the featured dish on the menu was "Fish Cloud Soup," which cost twenty coins a serving.
"Then I'll take one of these."
"Alright! No money allowed, or I'll kick you out." Mr. Song patted her head with satisfaction. "By the way, how's business at your stall lately? Have you managed to establish yourself in this food street?"
These days, A-Mian spent eight taels of silver to set up a large stone mill at home. Thinking that she should recoup her investment as soon as possible, she not only used it herself, but also rented it out to families in the village who needed it, collecting some copper coins or grain in return.
However, she later felt that selling tofu like this was too slow to make money, so last month she rented a small stall in the food street for 500 coins a month and officially started selling tofu rice.
This tofu rice wasn't the same as before; it combined the oyster omelet she'd had in Zhoucheng with two of Ah Mian's secret dipping sauces.
One of them is fermented soybean paste with a little salt; the other is scallion oil with crushed chili peppers. These two are flavors that she has tried at home for a long time, and Meng Chijian and Meng Jing both praised them highly.
The simplest tofu rice dish consists of a large block of tofu, two kinds of dipping sauces, served with steamed buns or mixed grain rice, and costs five coins.
However, as the number of customers increased and their requests increased, they gradually began to add various side dishes by adding copper coins: such as fried eggs for three coins (with oil), boiled eggs for two coins, sliced cooked pork belly for eight coins a plate, and a large handful of bean sprouts for two coins... If customers brought their own vegetables, Ah Mian would also help to blanch them for free.
"Great, I've been so busy lately!"
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